Chapter 12:
The sun beat down as though it had not rained at all the night before. Once again, the mosquitoes were out, this time, enjoying Raxiel's blood. But Raxiel wasn't worried about mosquitoes. She wasn't thinking about how hot it was or how humid the air was.
Her mind was somewhere else…
As she swayed her feet that were in the water while she was sitting on the edge of the spring, she couldn't help but wonder what Itachi was doing…
"Make sure no one sees where you are coming from, or they might get suspicious…"
Those words kept playing in her head over and over again as her feet began to splash the water quietly.
"I wonder what he meant by that," she thought out loud as she stared at the flowers she had put in the spring just two nights ago before Gaara had left.
An idea suddenly hit her…
She quickly glanced at her reflection in the water…
Blood…
Tired eyes…
And a messy appearance…
"I get it…" she thought. "But what did he mean when he said, 'We'll meet again'?"
Her right foot splashed the water harshly, sending water onto Raxiel's face. She laughed to herself quietly, forgetting everything around her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and suddenly, when things were just perfect, she heard a small humming noise…
It was getting louder…
And quickly, she recognized the sound…
"Die, you mosquito!" she said angrily while clapping her hands together with the mosquito between them. She dipped her hands into the water to clean them off, when she soon saw something on her arm…
Sand…
Gaara…
"The promise!" She quickly snapped out of her mesmerization and took off towards the hotel.
"Oh, he's going to get mad at me if I don't go inside immediately!"
And with that, she made her way towards the hotel, killing any mosquitoes that wanted to make a meal out of her.
XxXxXxXxXxXx
There are always two good things about a hotel: first, a shower; second, a bed.
Raxiel was looking forward to these two things as she saw the hotel coming into her view. Even though her stomach was growling to the loudest it could, her heavy eyes were winning by a milestone.
And then, another "wonderful" conclusion hit her:
"I don't have a key to my room…"
She stopped right in front of the hotel with a defeated look on her face.
"I'm doomed!" she said out loud, thinking that there was no one around.
She soon found out she was wrong…
"What's this about being doomed?" a voice behind her called. Raxiel turned around to see Iruka walking towards her.
Raxiel tried to smile, but remembering her messy appearance wasn't making her feel any better. "It just so happens I accidentally locked myself out of my hotel room…" she said with embarrassment.
Iruka laughed. "You can always ask the maintenance people if they have an extra key," he said genially, now closely examining her appearance. Raxiel blushed when she figured out what he was doing. "Um…" he started to say hesitantly, "Do you want me to go in and ask for you?" Raxiel nodded, and soon Iruka was inside looking for someone to ask for a spare key. Raxiel patiently waited outside.
"What if they don't have a spare?" she thought.
Then an idea snapped into her head…
Just as Iruka was coming out, she quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him inside with her.
"Whoa! Hey! What's the rush?" he asked, confused by her actions.
Did you get a spare?" she asked nicely as she led him up the stairs to see the second floor.
"Well, no, since the staff was taking off for lunch."
"Is it really lunch time already?" Raxiel thought to herself in shock. "I have a plan to get inside," she said to him calmly. Iruka looked at her curiously, not knowing what she was going to do.
Once they reached her room, Raxiel pulled out a small knife and started to pick at the door's lock. Soon, the door swung right open, revealing Raxiel's room. Iruka's eyes widened. "What did you just do? Pick the lock?"
Raxiel blushed. "Well, yeah. I couldn't wait to get a spare, and I was really in a hurry. Finally I remembered I had this; it's been a while since I've used it. The emergency is over now, though." She turned to face him. "Anyways, sorry for the trouble," she said apologetically.
Iruka shrugged his shoulders. "It's no big deal. I had the day off from work, so I thought I'd just stop by to see how you were."
"How'd you know I had a room here?" she asked curiously.
"I saw you the other night here with your friend. I just figured you'd be staying here."
"Well, you got that right," Raxiel stated, and Iruka smiled at her. "So, are you a kunoichi? I see your weapons you have seem like they've been used a lot."
Raxiel frowned. "No, I'm not. I just happen to be okay at fighting and use it only in defense for myself."
"I see. You know, if you wanted to become one, I could help you out," he said openly. "You'd probably make a good ninja. You might even be able to pass the Chunin Exams."
"Hmm… I'll think about it," Raxiel said, not having a clue about what he was talking about, but she was so tired that she didn't want to make another conversation with him.
Iruka saw her tired face and started to walk away. "Well, I'll let you… clean yourself up…" he said hesitantly.
"What? Oh yeah. Thanks," Raxiel replied shyly. Iruka waved at her and soon disappeared down the stairs.
As Raxiel made her way into her room and closed the door, she sighed.
Then she remembered yet another thing…
Her window…
Her broken window…
Raxiel hit her forehead with frustration. "Dang it! I could have just climbed in through the window!" she yelled out loud to herself.
Trying to get over her stupidity, Raxiel started to walk towards her bed. "Maybe I'll take a shower later. I don't think I could stay awake while I'm taking a shower. I practically passed out while I was talking to Iruka," she though. The more she stared down at her bed, the more appealing it became…
With no more energy left, she fell onto it…
And as soon as she felt the bed, she was asleep…
XxXxXxXxXxXx
"Wake up, Raxiel," came a blunt voice that was faintly familiar.
Raxiel opened her eyes slightly to see a read-headed teen sitting on top of the windowsill.
Raxiel moaned loudly. Her body ached, and the last thing she wanted to do was wake up.
Still dazed out, Raxiel mumbled to the young man, "Ten minutes, Whoever-you-are. Give me ten minutes, and then I'll fight you."
Gaara's eyes widened. "Is she drunk?" he thought as he closely examined her disheveled appearance. "She doesn't smell good either…" Gaara was starting to become even more curious about what she had been doing the past few days.
Gaara jumped down from the windowsill into her room and walked over to her bed. "Raxiel, what have you been doing?"
"Sleeping. And I was dreaming about "black" until you woke me up, you dun- "
"Wait, I know that voice!" Raxiel thought. Suddenly, her eyes shot wide open. "Gaara! What are you -?"
Raxiel sat up soon remembering her messy appearance. She hit herself in the forehead. "Oh, shoot! Oh… oh…"
Gaara was looking at her, flabbergasted by her certain outburst. "You look terrible. Have you been in a fight?"
Raxiel mumbled "no" to him…
"Have you been drinking?"
Again, Raxiel mumbled to Gaara "no".
Gaara became impatient. "Then you're lying to me."
Raxiel finally shifted her eyes onto him. She could see the cold glare he was giving her, and, this time, she had no way of escaping it.
Excuses…
Raxiel sighed. "Okay, Gaara, you win. Something tragic happened while you were gone."
Gaara's eyes shot wide open at her with concernment. "What? Tell me."
Raxiel gazed at him with "tears" in her eyes. "I only wanted to help! Please, don't get mad at me! –"
"What happened?" Gaara snapped.
"There was this elderly woman, you see, and she saw me from my window. She threw a rock at it, causing it to break, (that's why it's not really a window anymore) and so I asked her what was wrong. Well, it just so happened that her kitty got stuck up in a tree and needed help. So I went outside, located the tree the cat was on, climbed it, and rescued her cat."
Gaara's concernment soon turned into anger. "You got all scratched up from climbing a tree and rescuing a cat…"
Raxiel nodded vigorously. Gaara sighed with frustration and turned his attention out towards the broken window so he wouldn't lash out at her. "Well, once you clean up, come outside, and wear something nice."
Raxiel looked at him with confusion.
"I'll meet you outside in an hour," Gaara said as he walked away. Soon, he vanished into sand.
Raxiel looked out the window towards the road to see Gaara walking away and smiled, relieved she had gotten away with the… lie.
"I guess his mission is over," she thought. She soon shifted her gaze down to the windowsill.
Her eyes widened…
A rose made out of sand was sitting in the middle of the windowsill. Raxiel gently picked it up and looked at it with bewilderment. She finally laughed to herself as she set the flower on the nightstand next to her bed.
As she left to take a shower, she didn't notice the granules of sand that fell off her arm…
